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Monday, 14 April 2014

Music of the moment

Ok so I have to admit that I love love love filling out those Buzzfeed (or similar) quizzes that reveal which Frozen character you are or which Font you are...yes that is a real quiz! One of the questions I have found popping up in a couple of the quizzes I have taken is What's your favourite type of music- soft or loud? And it's a question that seems so simple but I find impossible to answer! See I absolutely love soft, soothing music but I also love to whack it up to full volume and blare it out for everyone to hear- so, does that count as soft or loud music- surely it is both!

The perfect example of this is Ben Howard, one of my favourite singers! I saw him live in the summer and his music makes my skin tingle- one of his songs Gracious is a soft song if I ever heard one, but play it on full volume and it only gets better!

Anyway, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to talk about my favourite music of the moment. Music is an amazing thing, it baffles me how something that often lasts only three or four minutes can make me feel so many emotions. So I sat down this morning and painstakingly picked out 9 of my top bands/singers of the moment!

So if you hadn't guessed already, I'm a bit of a Ben Howard fan, I rarely go to music gigs because being surrounded by people I don't know and the feeling of not being able to escape kinda freaks me out, so I can tell you that it took a lot of courage to go to London Hammersmith Apollo to see Ben Howard and for me that is proof enough of my love for his music. His album is soothing- see Gracious and Old Pine but there are also some more punchy numbers- Keep Your Head Up.

As I'm sure is the case with a lot of people, I first heard of this band when their single Little Talks appeared on the charts, and for a long time it was the only song of theirs I knew, but recently I had another look at the album and it is full of some amazing songs. Dirty Paws and Love, Love, Love are two of my favourites!

Ok, so I wasn't sure to go with Paolo Nutini's latest offering Caustic Love or his second album Sunny Side Up. Caustic Love was released today and while I love most of the songs, and the others are quickly growing on me, I felt that I hadn't listened to it long enough to be able to include it in my current favourites. Even though Sunny Side Up is hardly a new release, it had safely remained in the most played section of my iTunes for a long time, every single song on the album is amazing and I would struggle to choose a favourite. His gravely tones and Scottish accent is to die for and he gives the sort of soul and passion to his songs that someone three times his age would struggle with!

Bastille re-released their album Bad Blood with an additional CD with some extra songs. As a classics student, I could hardly ignore a band who have produced songs such as Pompeii and Icarus and while that may have been my introduction to their music, I soon fell for the whole album. Favourites include Weight of Living pt.I, Daniel in the Den and Durban Skies. As with Ben Howard, these are one of the few bands I would push my anxiety aside and try and see live, as of yet I haven't been able to get hold of any tickets!

I feel that Regina Spektor could sing about pretty much anything and make it into an amazing song, I find that I can quite easily listen to her all day long, she had a lovely quirky voice and her songs are so unique. Human of the Year and Two Birds are my favourites!

I first heard about this band through Bastille as they have often been their support act, it didn't take me long to become completely obsessed with their music! Again this is an album where not one song dissapoints!

I loved their album Contra and I thought about choosing that as a current favourite over their most recent offering, but there are a couple of songs on their most recent album that I would actually say are two of my all time favourite songs- Step and Diane Young.

This EP has been a favourite of mine for quite a while, there aren't many songs on it but all of them are amazing, they are eerie and haunting- everything I want from a good song!

So that brings an end to the list of my most loved music of the moment, I actually feel that sharing your favourite music is actually quite a personal thing, to show people what you listen to when you are at your saddest, happiest and most vulnerable. So there you go!

Let me know who your favourite artist is at the moment or if you agree/disagree with any of my choices!